Since the last issue of Kim & Lynda’s Wild Ride we made
our way west with a stop in North Platte, Nebraska to visit our granddaughter
Nina and her husband Brian. Also
visiting at the same time were her parents, our son Jason and his wife Jen with
two more of our grandchildren, Brayden and Brynn. Jason and Jen run a school for English speaking Expats in Dili, East Timor (located close to Bali, Indonesia, and Australia). We had a wonderful time with the kids
and grandkids … plenty of meals out and good conversations! Unfortunately, this will probably be
our last trip to North Platte as Nina and Brian have returned to California
where he will be teaching at Hesperia High School and she will be a social
worker with a local charter school.
While in North Platte we stayed at Holiday RV Park. It is conveniently located off of
Interstate 80 and gives easy access to North Platte. The park has packed gravel pull-through sites with 50 amp.
service, but it was a bit noisy and cramped. While in Nebraska we also were able to visit our
granddaughter, Willow and enjoyed a nice birthday lunch with her (unfortunately
we were having such a good time visiting that we forgot to take pictures …
sorry!). Here are some of the
pictures we did get.
In South Dakota we started out at Rushmore Shadows using our
ROD membership, but also stayed at America’s Campground (Associated with
America’s Mailbox), and at Hart Ranch (using Coast to Coast). This is our second stay at Rushmore shadows (we have stayed using Coast to Coast in the past), and it did not disappoint (We would give it a 10 out of 10 on the Moore Campground Scale). We had a very nice pull
through site with full hookups including 50 amp. and really enjoyed our stay
there. At America’s Campground we
opted for a dry site without hookups as we were also having a bit of work done
on the coach and were moving back and forth. We ended our stay with a week at Hart Ranch. This was our first time at this
campground so we will provide a bit more information on this Coast-to-Coast
site. Hart Ranch is beautifully
laid out. It boasts beautiful
green areas and all of the amenities (restaurant, pool, mini golf, tennis,
regular golf at their 18 hole course, etc.) and the majority of the sites have
concrete pads with a large concrete porch attached. Unfortunately if you are using Coast-to-Coast or RPI, etc
(i.e., you are not a member of Hart’s Ranch) you are relegated to an area
called “The Meadows.” The Meadows is located away from all of
the amenities down in a meadow where the sites are close together and have
back-in dirt sites (my jacks sunk down 6 inches) without sewer facilities. This is a park that definitely treats
non-members like second and third class citizens … even when they don’t need to as there were many cement sites
available (but not for us!). To add insult to injury, the park charges an additional $5.00 per night resort/utility fee + tax (our total for 1 week was $44.09), and if you wish to play miniature golf there is an additional $5.00 per person fee. Not having sewer made our visit miserable (we are used to
taking frequent showers and doing laundry in the coach – your experience my
vary considerably). Therefore, we give Hart Ranch a 1 out of 10 (with 1 = lousy and 10 = great) and put it on our … Don’t Return List. One last
commentary: We have noticed that a
number of C2C parks are following this same trend and placing non-park specific
members off in an undesirable portion of the park. When we first joined C2C the idea was that you would be
treated like a regular member at all of the parks you visited, unfortunately
this is not so … personally, we think this business model will eventually hurt
both C2C and its member parks as the C2C membership will lose its appeal
altogether.
While in Rapid City take time to visit all of the usual
attractions: Mount Rushmore, Crazy
Horse Monument, Custer State Park, Deadwood, & Sturgis (during Rally
week). However after you have seen
them all make sure you go to the Reptile Gardens and especially Bear Country
USA. At Bear Country you take a 45
minute ride and see wild animals throughout the park including wolves, fox,
elk, deer, bison, and especially bears.
Also in Rapid City visit Fort Hayes Chuckwagon dinner show (a good meal
and great entertainment at a fair price).
For the best piece of pie in Rapid City (and pretty good grub too) try the Colonial House Restaurant on Highway 16. Here are a few pictures of Fort Hayes & Bear Country.
Until Next Time Keep Doing What You Love!!
